Actually since mraz won't be making big money for several years yet we would easily be able to afford both of them. And once Howard's contract is up he can ten sign elsewhere or be a back up here for less money....assuming of course petr lives up to his hype.

Howard has proven he is a great goalie mraz hasn't.

But it can be potentially a great 1-2 punch for 3 years. Howard has three years left after this reason right?

Howie's got 4 years left after this coming season (signed until 18-19), but I don't know. If Mrazek is as good as he could be, do you think that the Wings will be happy to have a $5 million backup goalie?

Howie's got 4 years left after this coming season (signed until 18-19), but I don't know. If Mrazek is as good as he could be, do you think that the Wings will be happy to have a $5 million backup goalie?

Well 14-15 season Mrazek is in Grand Rapids, and there's no way he steals number 1 from Jimmy in his first year up (15-16). I can see him taking the top spot in 16-17, though, if he's as good as we are hoping and Jimmy doesn't rebound from this average year he had. But even if Mrazek was number 1 then, there would only be three years, including that season left on Howard's contract, and at the very least Howard should still be good enough to keep the job competitive and provide leadership for Mrazek. I think Howard will be around for the duration of his contract, and Mrazek should have room to be here too, if he can prove he's as good as he thinks. I used to think it wasn't possible, but now that I have it all laid out in front of me, I think it's a pretty good situation for the Wings to be in.

Well 14-15 season Mrazek is in Grand Rapids, and there's no way he steals number 1 from Jimmy in his first year up (15-16). I can see him taking the top spot in 16-17, though, if he's as good as we are hoping and Jimmy doesn't rebound from this average year he had. But even if Mrazek was number 1 then, there would only be three years, including that season left on Howard's contract, and at the very least Howard should still be good enough to keep the job competitive and provide leadership for Mrazek. I think Howard will be around for the duration of his contract, and Mrazek should have room to be here too, if he can prove he's as good as he thinks. I used to think it wasn't possible, but now that I have it all laid out in front of me, I think it's a pretty good situation for the Wings to be in.

I think then, the key is really how long and how much Mrazek signs for after this season (as he's an RFA). If he signed say, for 2 or 3 seasons at a cap friendly 1.5-2 million, then we could have quite the goalie battle down the road in a few years time.

This is all dependent on how good Mrazek turns out to be, but judging by his performance so far, it should be a dandy to watch this situation play out.

Mrazek needs to play. If Howard is healthy, he's playing 60 games or so, leaving less than 25 for the backup. It's not very often that a kid with waiver exemptions is brought in to backup an established starter. It also gives them a 3rd goalie that they can trust to com in and play if there is a long term injury. Would you really like to see a tandem of Mrazek and McCollum for a month if Howard goes down with a serious injury? This way Mrazek can come up and split time with a guy who has shown he can be at least adequate in Gustavsson.

Mrazek needs to play against NHL competition. There's only so much getting ripe a prospect can do in terms of development, even if the option is available to spend another year in Grand Rapids. 20-25 games will serve Mrazek better than another season against lesser talent, which he clearly has already proven to have mastered playing against.

Besides, any starts given to the backup could be huge in the standings if the Red Wings are indeed a borderline playoff team again. Throw out the contract situations and in terms of having the better goalie on the roster, I want Mrazek over Gustavsson. Mrazek is superior in net, cheaper and is in all probability going to be healthier than Gustavsson should he be called upon if Howard is injured. What's the sense in having an injury-riddled backup goalie around who isn't very reliable or consistent? Worrying about maybe needing a third goalie isn't much of an argument IMO. If it comes to that, most (if not all NHL teams) are going to be in trouble.

I'm not saying this move ruins the entire off-season; it just doesn't seem like a necessary decision when you have a more capable player already within the organization. I don't understand wasting cap space on Gustavsson when Mrazek is a better goalie. The Red Wings obsession with seasoning players in the minors just because they can is excessive and annoying, especially when the big club isn't winning.

Cause even if mraz lives up to his hype i see the goalies doing 50:50 for a couple years. Then Howard can resign as the backup or go elsewhere. But mraz will be fairly cheap for awhile.

At the end I the day our goalie sitatuion IS THE LEAST of our concerns for awhile.

Mrazek will only be fairly cheap so long as we keep him in the minors until he has to move up. Just think if we would have brought him up last year after he won the Calder cup, he would be demanding more money at the end of this season. I do agree that the goalie situation we have here is the least of our concerns.

Mrazek will only be fairly cheap so long as we keep him in the minors until he has to move up. Just think if we would have brought him up last year after he won the Calder cup, he would be demanding more money at the end of this season. I do agree that the goalie situation we have here is the least of our concerns.

That's just penny-pinching for the hell of it. The Red Wings always spend at or near the cap, but somehow they have this utter reluctance to promote any prospects unless necessary in order to save money in the future. They have no issue handing out multi-year deals to declining veterans. Yet the front office is overly concerned about the contract status of players in the minors that could help the Red Wings more by being on the team since they aren't winning much lately anyways. If you have a Stanley Cup contender, then I get overripe prospects and seasoning because you presumably have veterans or more experienced players still fulfilling their roles.

The Wings gave a contract to Gustavsson that will cost them around a million dollars more in cap space than just promoting the better goalie in Mrazek would. Probably rather insignificant in the grand scheme money wise, but it's an ongoing flaw within the organization. We saw it with Cleary over Nyquist, Mrazek this season and possibly Jurco going back down too. I'm not a fan of "send them down because you can" when it starts putting inferior players on the roster of an already mediocre team.

That's just penny-pinching for the hell of it. The Red Wings always spend at or near the cap, but somehow they have this utter reluctance to promote any prospects unless necessary in order to save money in the future. They have no issue handing out multi-year deals to declining veterans. Yet the front office is overly concerned about the contract status of players in the minors that could help the Red Wings more by being on the team since they aren't winning much lately anyways. If you have a Stanley Cup contender, then I get overripe prospects and seasoning because you presumably have veterans or more experienced players still fulfilling their roles.

The Wings handed out a contract to Gustavsson that will cost them around a million dollars more in cap space than just promoting the better goalie in Mrazek would. Probably rather insignificant in the grand scheme money wise, but it's an ongoing flaw within the organization. We saw it with Cleary over Nyquist, Mrazek this season and possibly Jurco going back down too. I'm not a fan of "send them down because you can" when it starts putting inferior players on the roster of an already mediocre team.

I'm not sure whether that is the case with Mrazek right now. Maybe they really want him to finally play 60+ games for the Griffins, or they think there's a couple of things he has left to work on? I don't know, but I would have thought bringing him up this season would have made more sense too, unless the Wings want more bargaining power when he's an RFA at the end of the year

I'm not sure whether that is the case with Mrazek right now. Maybe they really want him to finally play 60+ games for the Griffins, or they think there's a couple of things he has left to work on? I don't know, but I would have thought bringing him up this season would have made more sense too, unless the Wings want more bargaining power when he's an RFA at the end of the year

They want him to play more, and I know I would like to see that as well. Bringing Mrazek up wouldn't change the starting goalie this year. If they chose not to sign Gus, then the savings wouldn't be very much because Mrazek would get more as a result of being called up. Now, if Detroit could save $2 million or more by promoting Mrazek, then I would be ok with it. That isn't the case though.

They want him to play more, and I know I would like to see that as well. Bringing Mrazek up wouldn't change the starting goalie this year. If they chose not to sign Gus, then the savings wouldn't be very much because Mrazek would get more as a result of being called up. Now, if Detroit could save $2 million or more by promoting Mrazek, then I would be ok with it. That isn't the case though.

Precisely. Howard is going to play the majority of this season no matter what. Mrazek playing only 20 competitive games is bad for his development and dumb for us as a franchise. But not only is it bad for his development, but I think we all know he would probably do well in those 20 games. Then his agent would have a huge bargaining point at his side. A bargaining point that could either get him an inflated contract with us, or take him to another team. The wise decision is to let him grow and develop in the minors and bring him up when we have no other option but that.

hey, Jonas, I know you were hurt alot and played pretty bad the second half of the season and when we needed you to step up for average jimmy...but here's s raise...you earned it.

Holland thus far has beenf****** stupid...

DAN WHATEVER YOUR f****** NAME IS CLEAR OR CLEARLY GET THE f*** OUT OF THIS TEAM BACK GO f****** LEARN TO PLAY MORON I PERSONALY DON'T GIVE A s*** THAT YR LEG IS f***ET UP, PLEASE LIIVE. ANF BABCOCK PLEASE GET READ OF OUR QUINESSSSSSYYYYY HOLLAND YOU JUST HIT THE JUCK f****** POTT!

hey, Jonas, I know you were hurt alot and played pretty bad the second half of the season and when we needed you to step up for average jimmy...but here's s raise...you earned it.

Holland thus far has beenf****** stupid...

Gus had a relatively good season, inspite of his injuries. You don't think it's better to bring back a known commodity who actually helped us get to the playoffs last year than go with something completely different who may just have looked good under someone else's defensive system?

I mean, I'm all for trying something new, but if the guy had a good season, why not keep him? Yea Gus isn't the greatest goalie, but he's a backup, and backups don't have to be great goalies. They've just got to give you a chance to win 20 games of the year, which Gus more than did last season.

We've got a potential backup goalie in our system already and we re-sign Gustavsson? Let's see what the kid is made of at the NHL level before we anoint him as the successor. It would be good to know if he is the real deal or another Stefan Liv.

Seriously, I think sometimes Kenny just wants to get things done so he can play golf. One year deal, same old same old, sure, why not? It worked so well last year!

We've got a potential backup goalie in our system already and we re-sign Gustavsson? Let's see what the kid is made of at the NHL level before we anoint him as the successor. It would be good to know if he is the real deal or another Stefan Liv.

Seriously, I think sometimes Kenny just wants to get things done so he can play golf. One year deal, same old same old, sure, why not? It worked so well last year!

What are you talking about?

Mrazek is a potential starting goalie, not a backup. He needs another year in GRs playing 60 games way more than he needs to play 25-30 games in the NHL. And wtf with the Liv comparisions? That's like comparing Mantha to Dick Axelsson.

The Wings and budding PGA hopeful, Ken Holland, made the right move. Cut and dried. It's only debateable here on LGWs forums because people are clearly either crazy or so spoiled they can't see straight.

It's a good signing. Mrazek gets the chance to be a monster (pun intended) in GR. I've said it in other posts, and I'll say it again - if there's a flaw that I see in Petr's game, it's his consistency. Giving him a full year in the AHL, playing 60 something games is going to test him mentality (He wants to be up now, can he make the best of his situation?), and physically (Is he a workhorse? Can he play a ton of games, night in and night out?)

He's a great goaltending prospect, but there are still question marks surrounding him. Don't just look at stats - look at the overall picture and how goalies mature. Signing Gustavsson (in theory) is going to give a more clear picture of what kind of goalie Petr Mrazek is, playing as a starting goaltender at a pro hockey level. (not a guy who comes in and steals the starting job, and not a guy who splits the season with McCollum)